Seal.



C. J. REYNOLDS SEAL.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 9. I916.

Paiented Oct. 30, 1917.

; Melrose, in the county of Middlesex and a 1 SEAL.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES J. Rnrvonns, a citizen of the United States, residing at State of Massachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Seals, of which the following is a SPQClfiCELtlOD.

Thisinven-tion relates to snap seals such as are used for sealing freight cars, coin boxes, meters and otherreceptacles', articles or structures and has for its chief objectto make the fastening of such seals absolutely secure aga nst tampering or accident withoutkthe use of any clamping or compressing implement or other additional device, the seal being automatic and no action particularly the said invention consists in a sealing band having a bifurcated end and another end provided with a casing, the latter having internal projections or spring ears arranged to engage ingnotches or re- U cesses of the bifurcations and being alsonpro- --vided with raised. guiding, spacing and locking lug, which is received in the slot between said bifurcations and, overlaps. the

a so

latter, preventing the separation or, loosen-- .ing of the facesofthetwo endsof the band and thus makingthe seal self-sealing against tampering.

The said invention further consists in. additional improvements in the details of construction and combination, as hereinafter more particularly set forthand claimed.

QAlthQughsOme of the most important features ofmy invention may be embodied in I t 'Fig. 5,

iaisea'ling band formed from morethan one, piece, Tfind it best to makeithe. entire seal.

from a single blank of sheet metal and the construction .of' the latter adapted to, readily fold into the desired form with creased lines 'tocause ready fracture and bar surreptitious tampering, constitutes anadditional feature ofmy invention,

p In. the accompanying drawings Figure 1 represents a front elevation of a seal embodying my invention;

",FigxQ, a rear elevation of-the same; I Fig. 3, aside elevation thereof; Fig. 4, a longitudinal sectional viewyon an enlarged-scale, on line H'of Fig.1;

a cross-section on line, 5.5"of

'5 Fig. 1;- a m p is complete.

Fig. 6, a detail plan view of the blank for a one-piece seal; I f

Fig. 7, a detail front elevation of the blank part forgthe casing, ;the band being broken away, showing part 10 folded at .away to show more clearly the internal construction.

; .Myiseal comprises a flexible band 1,,preferably of a single piece of-thin sheet metal,

atone end of which is formed, in the blank, being required except that of the operators hand in moving one endof. the sealing band into engagement with the otherend. More I casingadapted to receive the other end of i the band. 1 At the former end, a pairaof an enlargement whereby one portion of this end may beturned over and secured to another portion of'thesameto form asealed locking ears 2 are struck up to aninclined position, as shown 11 1 Figs at and 9, and

also a l' shaped lug 3-is likewise struck up, but into perpendicular position, these parts 2 and 3 being on the inner face of the bottom or back of said casing'whenthe' latter These spring-ears 2 and lug 3respectively cooperating with the notches 4 and slot 5 respectively, as will be later explained, form'a very effectual lock, which may not be released without visibly damaging'the casing.

Referring to Figs. ,6, 7, Sand. 9, I preferably form the sealed casing by firstibend- 'ing the ears l0 and 11 into perpendicular position, bending along thelines 12 and 13,

-which are. shown dotted in Fig. 6, I next turn the ear, or flap 11, on theline 14, into parallel position, which brings my blank .to the form, shown in Fig. 7, but, most clearly illustrated in Fig 5. .Mynext step is to *turn the end portion up and over the, portion containing the flaps l0 and 11, by bending at the dotted lines 15. and 16. This brings the blank into the form shown in Fig.

7 8, when I ,am ready to perform the wrapping movement that is to complete the cas- T next turn the projecting flap ofztheend portion downwardly and underneath. and

Y across, first inclosing flap. 10, then the body portion'of band 1, which carries the spring .ears 2. and lug 3, and lastly the flap 11, when --it ,is bent around transversely, to. the band Specification of Letters Patent. P t fit a 0 1;, 30, 191 Application ffled December 9,1916, SeriaLNo. 135,924. I r

1 and firmly clenched, as shownin Figs .5 and 9. These latter lines of bending are indicated successively at 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21,

the latter line being creased, notched or perforated to weaken the material at this point to such an extent that it will endure but the one bending. a M p A lip 22, at the extreme end of this portion is now bent inwardlyon the line 23, to form an auxiliary safeguard, as will presently be eXplained.

By weakening the material along line 21 I make it impossible for anyone to unbend it without breaking 'ofi the end strip 2%, such mutilation serving notice that the seal has been tampered with-.' z i Bis willbe seen from'the following, my other safeguards prevent tampering with i the seal in anyother manner.

When it is desired to seal a car orreceptacle or other ;article, the slotted end of band -1 'issli'pped through the usual's'taple or perforated lug, passed around; outside of the latter and underneath the lip 22 of the casing, the slot 5 engaging the shank 25,

which just fits snugly in said slot, of lug 3 to hold the two ends of the band closely against itself;

As the bifurcated endof band 1 advances into the casing, the bifurcations slide up over the ears 2, slightly depressing them in so doing, until the notches at receive the ends of spring ears 2, when -the bifurcations and the spring ears 2 will snap back into normal position, the spring ears 2 holding the ends of the bifurcations against withdrawal.

The head of lug 3 prevents the free end ofband l-froin being raised from contact I with the other vend of said band and also prevents the insertion of any bladed instrument in an endeavor to pick the seal and" the shank 25, because of its width with relation to the slot 5 prevents any bending of the bifurcations laterally in an endeavor to disengage them from the-spring ears 2. Further, the shank :25 prevents the insertion of the freeend of the band 1 after a portion has been broken off in breaking the seal in an attempt to give it the appearance 0 I L v or a perfect seal, as the slot-o is made ust long enough to allow the insertion of the bifurcated ends, but when this portion is broken off the end of the broken band will strike againstithe shank 25, but may not be inserted farther. V i a The lip QQserves to close the open end of the casing, with a view to preventing the insertion of any instrument. into the casing in an attempt to pick the seal without mutiilating it, and also aids in holding the free end ofthe vband 1 in flat position.

If desired, the band may be provided with :integral struck up stops 26, limiting the extent or length to whichithe free end or bifurcated end of the band may beinserted, and the-other lilgorstop 26 prevents the other end of the casing from being broken oft from the casing and partially 1nserted. This is a desirable feature, but not at all necessary to the satisfactory use of my seal.

Preferably the seal is made of one integral piece of sheet metal, but this is not'esse'ntial. Any suitable material may be used, sheet metal of mild resiliency however, by me. 7 c i 1 Of course as is obvious, many alterations and modifications may be made in the arrangement, shape, and folding of the blank and other changes may be made in my'invention, of whiclionly the preferredforni is shown and described herein, without avoiding the scope thereof, and itis my intentio'n' to cover'all such changes and modification in the appended claims which I desire shall be given their broadest construction consistent with their wording.

daving thus describedmy invention, what l claiin asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent is; 7 g a 1 p 1. fr sealing band having its ends provided with parts interlockingagainst longitudin'al separation, one ofsaid ends being also provided with casing TOYflHC-lOSlIlg said interlocking parts and with means dis tinct fronisaid interlocking parts and over lapping :and in contact with the other-end of the bandfor holding said interlocking par'tstogether, a i A sealingband hav ngends interlock-f ng, against longitudinal avithdrawal and provided at one end with an iiiclosingcasing for the interlocking part/s and with meansa'dbeing preferred,

ioo

ditional to said parts risingfrom the bottom a of s'aidcasing and directlyactin'g- 'onthe' outer face of the other end for: preventing the other end of said band from being moved away from the proximate inner face of said casing. i. ;v.. v.

. A sealing band having one end bifurcated and notched in the sides of its-bifurcations and the other-end providcdwith a casing for receiving the former end,xsaid :cas- I iiig beingprovided with looking spring ears having inclined faces for said. bifurcations to ride over in entering the casing, said ears engaging said notched bifurcations to prevent withdrawal and with ailug fitting in the slot vbetween saidbifurcations to guide 'its withdrawal fromsaid caisingiand with a headed lug additional to said means fitting between the bifurcations of said end and extending laterally over the adjacent parts thereof.

5. A blank for a seal'consisting of an elongated fiat band having one end bifurcated and laterally notched in the bifurcations and the other end expanded laterally and extending lengthwise to form a casing and also provided along its central longitudinal line with a T-shaped cut out raised part and further having on lines parallel to said line a pair of cut out upwardly inclined parts, all of these out out parts being in that portion of the blank which will make the bottom of the casing with the T-shaped part then serving as a guiding and locking lug and the two in clined paits serving as spring sealing ears as set forth. I

6. A seal comprising a casing and a flexible band having one end fitting within said casing and interlocking therewith, the other end of the band carrying said casing and the latter being formed of transversely folded parts, the exterior and terminal one of which is weakened to be easily frangible in order to disclose by fracture any attempt at opening the casing.

7. In seals, a casing and a strap connected thereto and provided with a bifurcated end, in combination with means located in said casing to engage the bifurcated end of said strap to prevent its withdrawal, and means, fixed to a portion of said strap and located in said casing and covered and protected thereby, fitting between the bifurcations of said end and extending laterally over the adjacent parts thereof.

8. In seals, a casing and a strap integral therewith and provided with a bifurcated end, in combination with means located in said casing to engage the bifurcated end of said strap to prevent its withdrawal, and a T-shaped lug integral with said casing and covered and protected thereby, fitting between the bifurcations of said end and extending laterally over the adjacent parts thereof.

9. In seals, a casing and a strap integral therewith and provided with a bifurcated end, in combination with means located in said casing to engage the end of said strap to prevent its withdrawal and a T-shaped lug integral with said casing and covered thereby, fitting between the bifurcations of said end and extending laterally over the adjacent parts thereof, the length of the stem of said T-shaped lug not exceeding the thic ness of said bifurcated end.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

CHARLES J. REYNOLDS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Wgs hington, D. G. 

